Half of the 10 worst U.S. cities for renters are in California, according to an analysis by Apartment List. It's not a surprising finding — it's well-known that California has some of the country's most expensive metro areas.

The five cities that made the list, however, may surprise you. Dazzlingly expensive San Francisco wasn't even close to the top 10, and neither was San Jose.

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Instead, it was Fresno, Oxnard, Riverside, Los Angeles and San Diego that found themselves in the top 10 cities with the highest share of cost-burdened renters.

The metro areas where median incomes have risen faster than rents tended to be established and burgeoning tech hubs like San Francisco, Austin and Seattle, according to the study.

"These metros have experienced rapid rent growth, but incomes have increased rapidly as well, causing the share of cost-burdened renters to fall. Part of the rise may come from more high-income renters moving to these metros, while lower-income renters are pushed out," the authors wrote.

The study suggests that nationwide, many renters aren't able to abide by the old conventional wisdom that one should spend 30 percent of one's income or less on rent, with nearly half the population of renters saying they spend more than 30 percent of their incomes and 1 in 4 people surveyed saying rent eats up more than half their income.

The study also found that the overall share of cost-burdened renters has decreased since 2005. But that has less to do with the wages of existing renters keeping pace with rent increases and more to do with an influx of high-income people into the rental market. More rich people are choosing to rent, the study found, so a smaller share of renters is rent-burdened.

And it offers some confirmation for anecdotal reports that exploding rents in areas like San Francisco may be driving up costs in nearby secondary markets like Sacramento.

As the authors put it, "Secondary markets on the outskirts of pricey coastal hubs have seen cost burdens decrease despite rent increases outpacing incomes, due to an influx of higher income renters priced out of nearby markets."

No. 1: Miami

62.8 percent of renters spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent33.8 percent spend more than 50 percent of their income

No. 2: Fresno

60.5 percent of renters spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent

34.7 percent spend more than 50 percent of their income

No. 3: Oxnard

58.3 percent of renters spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent27.7 percent spend more than 50 percent of their income

No. 4: Riverside

58.2 percent of renters spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent29.9 percent spend more than 50 percent of their income

No. 5: Honolulu

58.1 percent of renters spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent30.0 percent spend more than 50 percent of their income

No. 6: L.A.

58 percent of renters spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent30.8 percent spend more than 50 percent of their income

No. 7 (TIE): New Orleans

57.1 percent of renters spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent31.4 percent spend more than 50 percent of their income

No. 7 (TIE): San Diego

57.1 percent of renters spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent29.5 percent spend more than 50 percent of their income

No. 9: Bridgeport, Conn.

55.8 percent of renters spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent28.4 percent spend more than 50 percent of their income

No. 10: Springfield, Mass.

55.1 percent of renters spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent27.9 percent spend more than 50 percent of their income